Don’t fear the garam masala

So Micah and I live about 1.5 miles away from this awesome foreign foods grocery store (HT Mart on Aurora). We’ve gone a couple times now and are just in awe of the amazing selection of ethnic foods they have – to name a few: Korean (yay!), Thai, Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Singaporean, Russian, Mexican, even lots of “American” options. It’s really fun to just browse the aisles and look at all the foods and buy all the (much cheaper) produce.

They also have a decent selection of Indian foods, spices, etc. I love Indian food, but have always been intimidated/afraid/totally clueless cooking it. (Unless of course you count heating up pre-packaged Trader Joes Paneer and heating up some naan.)

I for some reason was compelled to buy this ridiculously large package of garam masala. Ok, so garam masala is a basic blend of ground spices common to India and some other Asian places. I think most tend to associate it’s flavor and aroma with Indian cuisine. It’s a cool spice blend – but uh…what do you do with this nearly one pound bag of it?

I must find ways to use you!

Commence my new garam masala challenge. I plan to whittle my way to the very last essence of this bag by making new and delicious recipes each week – or every other week – that include this wonderful blend.

Last week was my first GMC (ahem…garam masala challenge). I found this delightfully simple, 5-ingredient recipe that featured none other than our friend GM (ahem…garam masala). :-) It really was super easy to make. I paired it with some naan (thank you HT mart), but you could also pair it with some rice.

Original recipe (with video) found here. Or follow along below and see my pics.

Butter Chickpeas – 5 ingredients, 10 minutes

Serves 2 with rice, or many of my friends when paired with strips of naan